ABSTRACT
American Ground chronicles the story of the “unbuilding” of New York City’s World Trade Center, the enormous (and, until this account, relatively unknown) nine-month ordeal of stabilizing its 17-acre site following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. The main elements of the task were clearing the site of 1.5 million tons of rubble – concrete, debris, and steel – which were all that remained of the twin towers and other Trade Center buildings, and doing this, moreover, within the context of a search for victims, first those who might still be alive, and then the nearly 3,000 dead.
